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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Star Wars Episode 7 cast: meet the newcomers | Star Wars Episode 7 cast: meet the newcomers |
| (4 months later) | |
| When Lucasfilm and Disney announced the cast of the new Star Wars film on Tuesday, fans fell into two camps: those celebrating the return of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, and those furiously Googling the new (young) cast members. Meet the new class of Star Wars stars: | When Lucasfilm and Disney announced the cast of the new Star Wars film on Tuesday, fans fell into two camps: those celebrating the return of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford, and those furiously Googling the new (young) cast members. Meet the new class of Star Wars stars: |
| John Boyega | John Boyega |
| Best known for Attack the Block, the 2011 film in which a teenage gang defends their south London block from aliens, Boyega is a 22-year-old actor and presumably a lead in the new Star Wars film. He would also be the first black lead in the series (though James Earl Jones deserves that nod for the voice of Darth Vader, he was not credited in the original release of either Episodes IV or V, at his own request, and so by technicality does not make the mark). | Best known for Attack the Block, the 2011 film in which a teenage gang defends their south London block from aliens, Boyega is a 22-year-old actor and presumably a lead in the new Star Wars film. He would also be the first black lead in the series (though James Earl Jones deserves that nod for the voice of Darth Vader, he was not credited in the original release of either Episodes IV or V, at his own request, and so by technicality does not make the mark). |
| Daisy Ridley | Daisy Ridley |
| Probably the least known of all the cast members, Ridley has primarily done British TV work (Mr Selfridge, Silent Witness), along with these series of shorts that a young actors' production company posted online. | Probably the least known of all the cast members, Ridley has primarily done British TV work (Mr Selfridge, Silent Witness), along with these series of shorts that a young actors' production company posted online. |
| Adam Driver | Adam Driver |
| Rumors that Driver had been cast as a "Darth Vader-like" villain began weeks ago, so the confirmation of his casting is no surprise. The 30-year-old is known mostly for this work on the HBO series Girls and small indie films, and as the Guardian's Ben Child notes, he has the size (6ft 3in and "weaselly yet muscular, like a geeky American football quarterback"), voice and acting chops to pull off villainous. | Rumors that Driver had been cast as a "Darth Vader-like" villain began weeks ago, so the confirmation of his casting is no surprise. The 30-year-old is known mostly for this work on the HBO series Girls and small indie films, and as the Guardian's Ben Child notes, he has the size (6ft 3in and "weaselly yet muscular, like a geeky American football quarterback"), voice and acting chops to pull off villainous. |
| If he is indeed the nemesis of Luke Skywalker & Co, he has bodybuilder-size shoes to fill (David Prowse, who wore the original suit, stood at 6ft 6in). "He only has to ask Hayden Christensen for advice if he wants to find out how it can all go horribly wrong." | If he is indeed the nemesis of Luke Skywalker & Co, he has bodybuilder-size shoes to fill (David Prowse, who wore the original suit, stood at 6ft 6in). "He only has to ask Hayden Christensen for advice if he wants to find out how it can all go horribly wrong." |
| Oscar Isaac | Oscar Isaac |
| After years of playing supporting roles in films like Robin Hood and Drive, Isaac took the eponymous lead in the Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis. | |
| His deft performance in that film earned him heaps of critical plaudits, about which he told the Guardian's Catherine Shoard: "The irony hasn't been lost on me … Being celebrated for playing someone who wasn't. … I know those people; it could have easily just gone the other way for me too." | His deft performance in that film earned him heaps of critical plaudits, about which he told the Guardian's Catherine Shoard: "The irony hasn't been lost on me … Being celebrated for playing someone who wasn't. … I know those people; it could have easily just gone the other way for me too." |
| Andy Serkis | Andy Serkis |
| As Gollum nee Smeagol, King Kong, and Caesar the chimpanzee who would rule us all, Andy Serkis has established himself as an actor so eerily good at imitation and invention that critics have called for award categories to expand just to reward his performances. | As Gollum nee Smeagol, King Kong, and Caesar the chimpanzee who would rule us all, Andy Serkis has established himself as an actor so eerily good at imitation and invention that critics have called for award categories to expand just to reward his performances. |
| Serkis, who's been acting and directing for years, will almost certainly don the motion-capture suit again and grace the Star Wars universe with … whatever it is he and the folks at Lucasfilm would like. Ideally the new film will bridge the gap from Star Wars' original models and masks to the prequels disastrous CGI-mania: Serkis is precisely the man to help them do that. | Serkis, who's been acting and directing for years, will almost certainly don the motion-capture suit again and grace the Star Wars universe with … whatever it is he and the folks at Lucasfilm would like. Ideally the new film will bridge the gap from Star Wars' original models and masks to the prequels disastrous CGI-mania: Serkis is precisely the man to help them do that. |
| Domhnall Gleeson | Domhnall Gleeson |
| Gleeson, who played a Weasley in Harry Potter and a simpering bandit in the Coen brothers' True Grit, may be more recognizable to audiences. | Gleeson, who played a Weasley in Harry Potter and a simpering bandit in the Coen brothers' True Grit, may be more recognizable to audiences. |
| The Irish actor has not shied from contradictory performances: he's taken roles in Anna Karenina (as the good guy, Levin), as the lead in time-travel rom-com About Time, and as an IRA soldier in Shadow Dancer. He's also appearing with Michael Fassbender in Frank. | The Irish actor has not shied from contradictory performances: he's taken roles in Anna Karenina (as the good guy, Levin), as the lead in time-travel rom-com About Time, and as an IRA soldier in Shadow Dancer. He's also appearing with Michael Fassbender in Frank. |
| Max von Sydow | Max von Sydow |
| Carl Adolph von Sydow's resume reads like a brief summary of 20th and 21st centuary film history: he was the knight in The Seventh Seal, a priest in The Exorcist, and Harry Haller in Steppenwolf. He was in Conan the Barbarian, David Lynch's Dune, Ghostbusters II, and has played Jesus. | Carl Adolph von Sydow's resume reads like a brief summary of 20th and 21st centuary film history: he was the knight in The Seventh Seal, a priest in The Exorcist, and Harry Haller in Steppenwolf. He was in Conan the Barbarian, David Lynch's Dune, Ghostbusters II, and has played Jesus. |
| He acted for the legendary director Ingmar Bergman in 11 films. He narrated Moomins and the Comet Chase. The 85-year-old polyglot does it all, and the Guardian has called him the "god of gravitas". About his acting name, he told Hadley Freeman: | He acted for the legendary director Ingmar Bergman in 11 films. He narrated Moomins and the Comet Chase. The 85-year-old polyglot does it all, and the Guardian has called him the "god of gravitas". About his acting name, he told Hadley Freeman: |
| "Yes! Ha ha ha! During my military service, I performed a sketch in which I played a flea called Max. So when critics kept misspelling my name, I decided to change it and thought, 'Ah! Max!'" | "Yes! Ha ha ha! During my military service, I performed a sketch in which I played a flea called Max. So when critics kept misspelling my name, I decided to change it and thought, 'Ah! Max!'" |
| The originals | The originals |
| As for the rest of the cast, there are no surprises that the original actors, as rumored, will be part of the new films. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker are back. But others are missing: where are Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones? Will Frank Oz return in some way? (The disembodied voices of Jedi ghosts do have a way of making it back into these films, after all.) | As for the rest of the cast, there are no surprises that the original actors, as rumored, will be part of the new films. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker are back. But others are missing: where are Billy Dee Williams and James Earl Jones? Will Frank Oz return in some way? (The disembodied voices of Jedi ghosts do have a way of making it back into these films, after all.) |
| Archive interviews with the Star Wars cast and crew | Archive interviews with the Star Wars cast and crew |
| • Domhnall Gleeson• Oscar Isaac• Max Von Sydow• John Boyega• Andy Serkis• Adam Driver• JJ Abrams | • Domhnall Gleeson• Oscar Isaac• Max Von Sydow• John Boyega• Andy Serkis• Adam Driver• JJ Abrams |